The Order of Malta in Italy is calling for new legal tools to face the challenges of the migratory crisis as well as new resettlement policies to avert decades-long residence in refugee camps.
The Lieutenant of the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra' Giacomo Della Torre, said migration is the "most profound human drama of our time" and is calling for "new legal tools to be developed" to face the crisis. He said "international conventions establish the rights of refugees and asylum seekers" that "must be protected", but these tools are "no longer sufficient to face mass expulsions, mass migrations and exoduses".
Dalla Torre spoke to an audience with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Order of Malta, held at Rome's Villa Magistrale. "It's not acceptable that the average length of a refugee's stay in a camp is more than 12 years. New resettlement policies must be developed," he said.
"Human trafficking business growing"
Dalla Torre said the Order of Malta faced "the great humanitarian challenges" of last year with "neutrality, impartiality, and defence of weak populations". The work of the Order focused on "assistance to migrants and refugees, the fight against human trafficking, support for those ill with dementia and the development of new therapies, and the fight against endemic pathologies".
Despite some fluctuation in numbers of arrivals to Italian shores, "the migrant flow that comes from the coasts of north Africa, in particular from Libya, hasn't stopped", Dalla Torre said. "The despicable business of human trafficking is growing at the same rate, feeding on migrants' hope and desperation," he said. In order to face this "terrible plague", Dalla Torre said the Order "recently nominated two ambassadors whose specific job will be to keep attention high on this unworthy phenomenon of human trafficking, which in 2016 involved about 20 million people, of whom more than 70 percent were women and children".
Efforts on various fronts of the emergency
The Lieutenant said the Order of Malta's efforts continue on various fronts of the migratory emergency. The Order, which has 80,000 volunteers and 42,000 employees, works with Mediterranean rescues at sea with its Italian Relief Corps, with the European mission EU Navfor Med, and with assistance to and integration of refugees and migrants. In that sector in Germany alone, the Order of Malta has deployed the efforts of 5,000 volunteers and 3,000 employees working in more than 100 structures in the country. It provides assistance, in particular, medical assistance, in Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon.
The Order also works in Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, the countries of South America, Myanmar and other areas in Asia. "Our only goal is to bring aid, relief and contribute in all ways possible to re-establishing a social fabric, to give hope to people devastated by wars, violence, persecution, and natural disasters," Dalla Torre said.